Sergey Kovalev-Jean Pascal rematch set for January 30

06/12/2015 08:50

IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) will defend his titles in a rematch against former world champion Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs) on January 30 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

The Russian stopped Pascal in the 8th round of an action-packed fight in March at the same venue.

If Kovalev gets past the Canadian for the second time as expected, he already has two bigger fights planned for 2016.

He will fight WBC champion Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22 KOs) in June in one of boxing's most anticipated bouts to unify the 175 lb belts, followed by a showdown with Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs), who recently vacated his WBA super middleweight title and moved up to light heavyweight, later in the year.

But his next opponent Pascal is aiming for revenge after a gutsy effort against the powerful champion in the first fight. However that seems unlikely following Pascal's controversial points win over Yunieski Gonzalez in July in his last outing.

Kovalev destroyed Frenchman Nadjib Mohammedi in the third round while Pascal struggled against the Cuban fighter on the same card.